Top 10 Tortas in Los Angeles

Just like the taco, which takes many different forms, the torta covers a range of Mexican sandwich styles. As with all sandwiches, breads and fillings vary, but tortas adhere to uniquely Mexican traditions. Some of L.A.’s best versions are based on tortas from states like Jalisco, Oaxaca, and Puebla, plus Mexico City (aka Distrito Federal). Discover 10 of the best, most satisfying tortas in Los Angeles, listed in alphabetical order.

Cemitas Poblanas Don Adrian

Adolfo Huerta’s Puebla-style sandwich shop is a Van Nuys hole-in-the-wall that holds only three tables, which are often occupied. However, you’re here for cemitas poblanas and not comfort. The best use of their sturdy, sesame roll may be cecina adobada, juicy spice-soaked beef spiked with chipotle salsa and topped with onions, fresh-shucked avocado, and cool slabs of milky panela cheese (or string cheese). In season, you can add papalo, a punchy wild herb known as “summer cilantro.” Depending on your preference, Cemitas Poblanas Don Adrian also highlights queso de puerco (head cheese), barbacoa (roasted lamb) or pata envinagrada (vinegar-cured beef feet). Decisions, decisions.

La Chiva Loca

When eating Guadalajara-style tortas ahogadas ("drowned sandwiches"), be prepared to make a mess. La Chiva Loca’s take on the popular sandwich comes in a plastic bag-lined basket, to prevent saucy red splatter. Choose from either carnitas; slow-cooked, shredded pork leg; or carne asada. They drown each sandwich in spicy chile de arbol broth, soaking the roll, which comes piled with thin-shaved red onions and served with a spoon to sop up debris. Julio Gonzalez has run branches of La Chiva Loca in Downey and nearby South Gate for years. His Downey flagship features memorabilia from Club Deportivo Guadalajara, a soccer club that’s affectionately known as Chivas. The word translates from Spanish as goats, which is a key protein on La Chiva Loca’s menu.

Primera Taza Coffee House

Chuy Tovar and business partner Antonio Segoviano breathed new life in Primera Taza Coffee House, a Boyle Heights business, when they took over for Juan Romero in 2015. The space with art-lined red, yellow, and blue walls holds a delicious secret: lonche de lomo. Tovar and his Guadalajara-born wife Rosalinda Hernandez collaborated on this special sandwich using a pork loin recipe passed down from her father. Lonche de lomo features juicy sliced pork roasted with clove, bay leaf and salt. Crema, pickled jalapeno, red onion, heirloom tomato, and avocado are all packed into sturdy, baguette-like birote salado flown from Guadalajara and plated in “special sauce” crafted with is a mild blend of three dried chilies. Belgian baker Camille Pirotte created naturally fermented birote salado (a bastardization of his name) for invading French soldiers. Check Primera Taza’s Instagram page to see when this special bread/sandwich are in stock.

Super Tortas Estilo D.F.

Justino Gress has parked a torta trailer on the same corner south of downtown since 2008. He mans the plancha in an exhibition kitchen and his nephew works the window. They play soccer on TV for customers who snag five prized white plastic chairs and others waiting in line. Their menu boasts more than a dozen different tortas, including location-inspired choices like Hawaiiana, Argentina, and Hollandeza. Still, most people come for their Torta Cubana. This beast of a sandwich touts 3 ingredients for $6, and if you’re smart, 10 ingredients for $8. Go all-in and receive a buttered telera stacked with ham, omelet, pork leg, head cheese, quesillo, Milanesa, chorizo, tomato, two types of cheeses (white and yellow), hot dog, avocado, and jalapeno. Somehow, excess achieves balance.

Tapatia Mexican Food

Tapatia highlights a strip of Mexican food businesses in Mar Vista. Francisco Belmonte and Angela Barajas also run three sandwich shops back home in Guadalajara, and the sandwiches true to their heritage are worth seeking. Lonche de pierna stars shredded pork leg marinated in guajillo chile. Juicy meat’s piled on a crusty birote salado with sliced tomato, shaved red onion and tangy crema of mayonnaise, sour cream, and mustard. Dress with pickled jalapeños or spicy salsa de chile de arbol. They also have tortas ahogadas featuring carnitas fried in a tradition cazo, not an oven, a popular shortcut.

Tortas Ahogadas Guadalajara

Guadalajara-born Adrian Estrada and wife Gloria started Tortas Ahogadas Guadalajara with a cart in 2001, graduated to a truck and settled on and small storefront. Daughter Cindy worked in design and helped her parents find their current home in 2010. The family’s space in St. George Plaza features orange walls, decorative papel picado strung along the ceiling, and big Guadalajara photos. Torta ahogada is their most popular sandwich, prepared with a choice of carnitas, buche (stomach), or a mix, served with beans and drowned in spicy (or mild) “secret recipe salsa” on a sourdough-like birote salado. Their more unique torta ahogada de camaron is a spice-boiled shrimp sandwich on chewy birote salado slathered in in secret recipe tomato, chipotle and cream based salsa that resembles a crime scene. Pickled red onions help to balance the flavor.

Tortugas

Luis Martinez channels Mexico City with a torteria in Old Pasadena. A glass fronted space on the same block as sister restaurant King Taco features speckled counters, cushioned stools running along cream colored walls, and photos of famed Mexico City locations. A blackboard menu sports a cartoon turtle eating a torta and advertises 10 different tortas, plus specials. The “German” sandwich, Alemana features a hearty mosaic of beef franks, chorizo, Portuguese sausage, Oaxacan cheese, queso fresco, avocado, beans, chipotle mayo, and butter. Hawaiiana is a play on the divisive pizza co-starring pineapple, ham, and Oaxacan cheese. Tortugas also serves classics like Milanesa with a choice of breaded pork shoulder, rib-eye, or chicken breast. Each sandwich comes with potato chips and potent salsa that combines guajillo, chile de arbol, tomatillo, and garlic.